Paper Mario and Sonic
by Krissey-da-Cougar
Summary: Bowser finally did it. With the Star Rod in his possession, he can make any of his wishes come true. But his plan goes awry as two unexpected guests arrive: Sonic and Tails. But with Sonic's memory gone, and Mario near death, is there hope for Star Haven?
1. The Prologue's Prologue

**Author's Notes: **Yes, I am starting another story. XD Shame on me, I know, when I have a ton of others I need to work on. . I know. But I had this idea in my head for SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long, and finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I. Must. Put. It. Up. And so, here it is. But note: I cannot find the actual script for _Paper Mario_, and I'm not about to go through the whole game again just for the script, so all the lines are not what you are going to find in the actual game. However, the storyline is the same, with the exception that there is now Sonic and Tails accompanying our favorite Italian plumber and peachy princess. And that brings up another point: since this story IS set after Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic and Tails are younger (Sonic 10; Tails 5), and that means they have no knowledge of the other characters like Shadow, Rouge, Cream, Amy, or even Knuckles. And…well…I guess there isn't much else to say. Enjoy the story!

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own any characters. Mario and the original party from _Paper Mario,_ as well as Peach, Twink, Bowser, Kammy Koopa, and everyone else, belong to Nintendo. Sonic and Tails belong to SEGA. Other disclaimers will be announced throughout the story.

-

It wasn't everyday that Mario got a letter. But, it wasn't unusual either, especially since it was from her royal highness, Princess Peach. What made it even more common was that she was inviting him to one of her famous palace parties. The princess was always cheery and generous, not to mention friendly. She never thought of herself as more important than the people she was ruling.

But that was beside the point.

Mario put the letter into his overall pocket, and turned to his younger brother, Luigi.

"Ready to go?" Luigi asked, his Italian accent obvious.

Mario nodded. He couldn't talk well, because…he was mute. He always had been, and always will. So, while he had excellent hearing and seeing abilities, he couldn't use his vocal chords. Thus, he stuck to sign language. Luckily, that was something studied not only in Toad Town, but in the whole world. Everyone knew how to understand what he was saying, and that is something he was most grateful for.

Luigi bore a grin as he exited their quant house. Mario followed, and the two made their way to Toad Town by a green pipe.

It didn't take long to reach the palace. When they arrived, they weren't surprised at the amount of toads there. There were millions, but that was something that was to be expected. When Peach was throwing a party, EVERYONE was invited. And as a result, almost everyone came.

Luigi turned to Mario as he said, "I hope you don't mind, bro, if I stay down here. You can go look for the princess, but I wanna talk with the townspeople."

Of course, being his older brother, Mario knew the _real_ reason Luigi wanted to stay on the first floor. It's where all the food was. Logical reason, he supposed, if you were Luigi. But Mario had other interests on his mind. With that, he nodded to his brother, and the two parted.

After getting information on the princess's whereabouts, Mario wasted no time in treading up the stairs to the second floor. Since the princess decided to go to her secret chambers and not come here to greet him herself, he would go up there and talk with her himself.

It didn't take long to reach her highness's chambers. The volume of the party could barely be heard there, and Mario guessed that was a good thing.

But that was a bad thing entirely in itself.

Princess Peach turned as she heard footsteps coming her way. A little ways behind of her was Mario, a timid smile on his face.

She smiled back. "I hope you don't mind that I had come up here. It gets tiring having to greet all those guests," Peach said.

Mario nodded. That was understandable.

Peach's smile never left her smooth face. "Well, I guess it's a good thing now that you're here. That means we can talk without fear of anyone overhearing. There have been a few things I've wanted to tell you about…" her sweet voice drifted off as her facial expression was one of someone in deep thought. Then, she shook her head, her beautiful long blonde hair swinging with the movement. "Come. We can talk once we get to a more comfortable room," she smiled gently before turning to lead the way.

And that's when it happened.

Suddenly, everything began to shake violently. It was like an earthquake, a violent one. Mario and Peach struggled to keep their balance, sometimes having to run in place.

And, then, it stopped.

Mario's chest heaved with each breath, his heart beating in anticipation. What in the world was that? 

Peach seemed to be wondering the same thing. Then, in the corner of her eye, she could see outside one of the giant windows.

"What the…" she whispered as she walked ever so slowly to the large window. "Mario…wasn't it…light outside when you came here?"

Mario's eyes widened as he realized she was right. Outside, stars could be seen, and the sky was pitch black. What had happened?

Then, something big in a clown-like-flying-mechanism flew overhead, before jumping off of its ride and landing in front of them.

Bowser.

The self-proclaimed lord of the koopas laughed. "I see you've finally noticed what I've done! Ain't it awesome?" His childish nature had no obstacles as he continued. "I've lifted your castle into the sky on TOP of mine! Cool, huh? And guess what that means, too? Now there's no way for Mario to save you, Peach! Now you're—"

Bowser cut himself off as he noticed who just took a stand in front of Peach. He growled, and stomped angrily like a little child who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas.

"Curses! How come you're ALWAYS here, Mario?" It took a minute for the Koopa King to calm himself down. Then, he continued, "Well, it doesn't matter. 'Cuz this time, you _can't_ beat me! This time, I'm gonna win!"

Mario narrowed his eyes. All right. He'd take that challenge.

Peach seemed to have the same thought as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Please, Bowser. Be serious. You can't possibly think you'll defeat Mario."

Bowser grinned. "Oh yeah? Well, we'll just see about that!"

And with that, the fight was on.

It was a natural rule in that world that battles were fought fair and square. It was like a law of nature; it was always followed, and not always consciously. It was some inborn knowledge to attack when it was your turn and win that way rather than attack whenever.

And by that, we can know that the world of Mario's was definitely one of divine order.

Mario got the first attack, as he ran and jumped atop of Bowser, causing small damage. Bowser grit his teeth before leaning down and causing a pillar of flame to launch towards his rival. It struck our famous plumber, but Mario quickly got up, dusted himself off, and was ready to attack again.

The battle lasted for a small while, until Bowser suddenly grinned. "Had enough, Mario?"

The mute plumber did not reply, but instead held his ground.

Whether the Koopa King was expecting an answer or not was unknown as he suddenly pulled something from behind his shell. "Well, it doesn't matter! 'Cuz now, I'm gonna make sure I get rid of you once and for all!"

Peach's heart skipped a beat, instantly recognizing the wand in his giant claw. "The Star Rod!" she exclaimed.

Mario was confused. Star Rod…?

Bowser chuckled. "Yes! This is the one and only Star Rod stolen from the Star Haven itself by me! And I'll tell ya: it was sooooooooo easy! Those Stars didn't know what hit them! And now that I have the Star Rod, I can make any wish of mine come true!"

Mario didn't flinch at all, but instead furrowed his brow. Yeah right. Like that stick could do anything…

But he was deathly wrong.

Bowser held the Star Rod up proudly in the air, and suddenly, was covered in a fantastic display of light. When everyone could see him again, he was glowing like some intense fire of its own kind.

Bowser grinned again. "Now let's see how you win THIS time, Mario!"

The brown-haired-plumber took on the challenge, racing forward and jumping once again on Bowser's head.

It did nothing.

Bowser laughed mockingly. "Oh, come on! Is that the best you can do? I didn't feel a thing!"

Then, he bent over, once again unleashing a large pillar of fire.

Mario was caught off guard by the intensity. It weakened him so greatly, he thought then and there he'd collapse from fatigue.

But no. He had to persevere. Bowser had to be defeated once again.

He tried another jump-attack, but it did nothing. Bowser hadn't even flinched.

The King of Koopas laughed once more. "Is it just me or are you losing your touch, Mario?"

Bowser ran forward, and did his own jump-attack. Mario, once again, was caught off guard by the strength in the attack.

The fight continued like this: Mario having done none damage, and Bowser having done a ton.

By the end, Mario was barely holding himself up. His right arm hung limp by his side, his left hand holding it to keep it steady. One of his blue eyes was closed from the pain, his teeth gritted. His legs shook, threatening to fall out from under him any minute.

Peach could barely believe what was happening.

Bowser was ecstatic.

"Yes! I'm gonna win! After all this time, I'm finally gonna defeat Mario!" he stopped his jumping parade, and stood tall, proud and triumphant. "I guess now its time to dispose of you! Good-bye, Mario—FOREVER!"

The Star Rod that was held up high by his hand started to glow. Mario looked up weakly. Was this the end…?

"NO!" Peach cried out in horror, her voice filled with desperation.

Bowser lowered the Star Rod, aiming it at his foe. The Star Rod's glow intensified.

_Oh please…if anyone can hear me…please let this not be the end for Mario! _Peach prayed with all her might.

Mario gritted his teeth, closing his eyes to accept his fate. His strength was already failing him…

And before he knew what happened, there was a brilliant flash of light.

But instead of him being dead, there were two more people occupying the room.

Peach gasped as she saw the two new arrivals. "Wha…?"

The scary thing was: she didn't know _what_ they were. They looked like they didn't even come from their world!

One was a 3 foot tall blue creature with spikes on his back and head. The other was a smaller, yellow-orange creature with two fluffy tails. Both looked quite young, not even teenagers.

Bowser stared, mouth agape. The Star Rod was still charging up for the final strike without him knowing. Anger filled him as he thought that his wish didn't come true. Bowser stomped loudly, opening his mouth to fire some complaints.

And that's when it happened, as well.

Suddenly, the final blast the Star Rod had been charging this whole time was unleashed. But, it didn't directly hit the person it was intended to.

It hit the blue creature.

With a loud cry of pain, the blue creature was thrust back from the force of the attack, as well as Mario who had caught some of the attack as well. Both hit the mirror, shattering it as they tumbled away, and out of the castle…

Peach screamed, rushing towards the window. She got there just in time to see the fading dot of her hero falling through the clouds and out of sight.

"Marioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" she cried, leaning over as if it would aid in him hearing her.

But it was to no avail.

Bowser, on the other hand, froze for a moment. Then, it suddenly seemed to register in his mind what had happened. A big grin was plastered on his lips as he said, "YES! I FINALLY DID IT! I DEFEATED MARIO!"

Throughout the mixture of emotions in the hallway, no one noticed the small yellow-orange creature who had also appeared, huddle by a white pedestal nearby, frightened by what he saw had happened to his friend.

"Sonic…" was the quiet plea that whispered from him.

But the blue one was way far out of earshot.

-

It was quiet and peaceful in the forested area. Birds chirped happily, dragonflies buzzed without a care, and squirrels scurried to their home with new food. Nothing seemed disturbed…

Well, except for the two bodies now lying motionless in the grass.

One was our famous plumber, in critical condition. The other was the mysterious blue spiked creature.

Suddenly, another disturbance (besides the abrupt arrival of the two unconscious beings) caused all the forest animals to become quiet. Seven images of stars appeared around Mario's wounded form, each image fading in and out, and each having a concerned expression on their face.

"Oh no…we're too late! Bowser's gotten to him!" the female star with a bow on her head, Mamar, said. Her eyes were wide with distraught.

"Now, now. There is no need to fear," the oldest of the stars, Eldstar, said. "It doesn't look like he killed him. He's still breathing."

"Barely," another one which had glasses, Skolar, muttered.

Mamar floated down to Mario. "Oh, Mario…please wake up…we need you…"

"Perhaps we should help him," another female star, Misstar, suggested. "I mean, look at him. He's dying."

None of the stars could deny that, no matter how much they wanted to.

"Then it's settled. If we want peace to return, so must we help the one who will get it back," Kalmar, another star, informed.

The others nodded.

"All right then, gather around, Stars. Let us help Mario!" Eldstar informed.

All seven star spirits gathered around in a circle, with Mario in the middle. If one were to watch, the light show that followed soon after would be one that would almost blind you, it was so bright.

Afterwards, each star panted visibly. That took too much magic. "That is all we can do for now…let us return to save our energy," Eldstar murmured.

And then, one by one, each star faded again, this time permanently. Only one remained, and that was Mamar as she floated down towards our hero once more.

"Please, Mario…we're counting on you…you must save Star Haven…" she whispered. Then, she turned to leave…until she saw another figure on the ground. She gasped, floating over.

"What…what are you?" she asked quietly. Of course, she knew it couldn't respond since it, too, was out.

She floated around it once—twice—three times, until she was finally able to see who it was. Being a star spirit, she had to grant the wishes of every single creature in the universe—even those on different planets, such as this young one.

In fact, she had gotten some quite outlandish wishes from him. She even remembered his name.

"Sonic…what are you doing outside of your own world?" then, it struck her. Peach's wish! She, too, had heard it, but was unable to do anything of it! Wait…if that was true…then who granted the wish? 

All of the other star spirits were captured as well, so who could've done it?

Mamar shook her head. It doesn't matter. Sonic was here, so while he was so, he might as well do something useful.

The star smiled gently at Sonic as she whispered, "Please, Sonic…before you go back to Mobius…please…please help Mario. He and everyone else needs your help—your speed. Please help us return order to our world."

And with that, she finally disappeared.

But little did Mamar know that at that moment, Sonic didn't even know of his speed.

In fact, he didn't know anything of himself.

-

Much, much later, our hero Mario is found lying on a homemade bed, considerably small for him. His wounds are almost healed, except for the cast on his arm. That would take a while to heal—er, at least, until he found a mushroom.

Suddenly, the holographic image of Eldstar appeared again, hovering over the Italian plumber. Eldstar looked down upon Mario, and seemed to be relieved.

"Ah…so the Goomba family has found you…such a blessing…" he chuckled to himself quietly. "So it seems even the wishes of stars may come true." Another hushed chuckle. Then, his face regained all seriousness as he said, "Mario, you must come to Shooting Star Summit as soon as possible. I and the other Stars will be waiting for you there. You must come—the future of not only Mushroom Kingdom, but all of our world depends on you! Please…hur…ry…" the message faded out as the holographic image blurred until it become nothing.

No more than two seconds later, the two bright blue eyes of our hero opened up in a flash. Whoa! What a crazy dream! Yet…it seemed so real! Like the star was actually talking to him! But that couldn't be real. Stars don't actually talk…do they?

Mario shook his head. Talking stars or not, he couldn't deny that what his dream had said was true. Everything _did_ depend on him…not that that was anything new…

With a small difficulty, Mario slid out of the small bed, and made his way towards the door. He was still considerably weak, but was way stronger than he had been before. But just as he reached out to open the door, someone else opened it from the other end.

Mario was more than surprised to see a kid female Goomba there with a small pink bow on her head. In fact, she seemed pretty surprised, too.

For a few seconds, the two just stood there, staring at each other. Then, the girl reacted. She gasped loudly.

"You're awake!" her voice didn't sound threatening in the least, which confused Mario. Goombas had been one of his enemies for a long while now, and yet this one was talking to him in a friendly way.

"You've been out for a long, long time, Mr. Mario! You had us all worried!" the young one continued.

Wait, _us_?! Did that mean that there were more Goombas that were actually friendly?

The girl suddenly giggled. "Silly me! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Goombaria! I'm the one that found you on the forest floor and brought you here—although Dad had to help me…" her voice trailed off, but it was no sooner than a second later that she continued to ramble on. "What happened to you, anyway? When I found you, you were all beaten up and Daddy thought that you were gonna die! And then there was that friend of yours…what is he, anyway? He's nice, I mean…but I've never seen anything like him before!"

_Friend_?! He couldn't remember anyone else…

Right at that moment, memories flooded back into his mind. The blue creature! He had been hit and knocked out of the window as well!

Mario turned to the girl as she looked at him strangely.

"You okay, Mario? You kinda spaced out there for a minute…" Goombaria responded, her head tilted to the side curiously.

'I'm fine,' Mario sign-languaged. 'Where is that blue creature right now?'

"Oh, him? He's playing with Goombario, my older brother. But if you wanna talk to him, you're gonna have to eat this mushroom first. Mom said that the first thing she wanted you to do was to eat it," and with that, Goombaria handed him a green mushroom.

Mario couldn't have put his thanks into words. Green mushrooms were the best medicine of all—and extremely rare to find. With a quick 'thank-you' gesture, he swallowed the mushroom in one bite, instantly finding that he felt tons better.

Goombaria smiled widely. "All right! I guess I can let you out, now. I'm gonna go tell the others that your awake!" And before Mario could sign 'good-bye', she was off.

The fourteen-year-old, and yet mustached, fellow smiled. Kids. He had to remind himself that he was still one, sometimes. As a hero, it was all too easy to put on the act of an adult.

His smile remained on his face as he slid his cast off and stepped outside to see exactly who and what this 'blue creature' was.

The first thing he saw was the said being and a little Goomba with a blue baseball cap playing tag. It took a minute, but then the blue being froze as he saw Mario. The goomba bumped into him, and fell backwards, grunting in response.

"Hey…what was that--?" he cut himself off as he saw who his newfound friend was staring at. A grin quickly replaced his scowl as he rushed towards Mario. "You're awake! You're awake!" he cried joyfully.

The blue one jogged towards them as well, seeming to be a little timid. He was smaller than Mario—and it was then that the plumber remembered that he was only about three feet tall. To compare, about one fourth of a foot taller than a goomba.

"Hey, Mario! You had us all worried! Gramps wasn't sure you were gonna make it, but I never doubted!" the little tyke—who seemed to be about the same age as the blue feller—grinned proudly.

Mario smiled back, nodding. Then, he signed, 'What is both of your names?'

"My name is Goombario!" the goomba replied quickly. Then, his face clouded over as he looked at Mario a bit solemnly. "But as for him…well…he doesn't know his name…"

The well-known hero of the Mushroom Kingdom furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 'What do you mean?' he signed.

The blue one fidgeted uncomfortably as Goombario replied, "Well…you see…Dad thinks he has amnesia. He can't remember anything about himself—he can't even remember what happened before Goombaria found you guys in the forest."

Mario's eyes softened as he turned to the newcomer. The cause of his amnesia was probably from Bowser's blast. The attack was meant to kill, but since it hit both of them, it probably severed the other's memory instead. 'Can you talk?' he signed.

Goombario quickly chimed in. "He doesn't understand sign-language, but yes, he can talk."

Mario smiled. That was good. Being mute wasn't a fun thing—and he should know. With a joking smile, he signed, 'Will you talk? You're making me feel like I'm some type of big bad person.'

Goombario couldn't help but laugh. The blue creature turned to him, confused. The goomba quickly translated. "He asked you if you would talk for him. He says you're making him feel like some type of bad person."

The blue one scratched the back of his head, before clearing his throat. "Sorry…" he replied. "I just feel…out of place."

Mario nodded. That was understandable. 'But even so, I need to call you something,' he signed.

Goombario then told the blue creature what he said.

"Well…it's not like I have any suggestions…I don't even know _what_ I am…" the newcomer replied, mumbling the last part to himself.

"We could call you Blue!" Goombario piped up.

Mario smiled, his eyes showing laughter. 'No. We need a good name for him. Maybe he has a special ability.'

"Good point…" Goombario went into a mode of deep-thought.

The blue one pouted. "Would someone please translate, because I feel like I'm being left out of the loop, here."

Goombario laughed. "Well, Mario said that we need a good name for you. Do you have a special ability or something?"

The spiked creature shook his head. "Not that I know of."

Silence overtook the trio as all thought about what to do and how to name the newcomer—hopefully, correctly.

The blue one had to suppress a sigh. _I hate this…why can't I remember anything? I wish…I wish that at least I can get my right name. If there is such a thing as wishes coming true…then I wish that my memory would come back, and I wouldn't have this…amnesia-whatever. And…if that's too much to ask, then can we at least guess the right name for me? Maybe my real name would be nice? I--_

Before the creature even got to finish his thoughts, Mario went into a trance of thoughtfulness and walked around him once, and then twice.

"What? What is it?" the blue one asked excitedly, head and emerald green eyes trying to follow him, even though it was difficult when the mustached teen went behind him.

'I dunno what it is…' Mario signed to Goombario. 'But…to me…he looks like a Sonic.'

"Sonic?" Goombario repeated. He turned to look at their friend, and pondered the possibility. "You may have something going on there…"

"Sonic…" the blue being tasted the feeling of the word around in his mouth. It seemed…almost familiar to say.

Mario smiled. 'Do you like it?' he signed.

Goombario turned to the spiked being. "He asked if you like it."

The new friend smiled, nodding vigorously. "I dunno what it is," he replied. "But somehow…it seems familiar to me."

Mario's grinned widened. 'Then maybe its right! Maybe you're real name is Sonic!'

Goombario turned to the blue one, and translated for him, adding at the end, "Do you think it is?"

The blue one thought for a minute. "I really don't know…but I have this feeling it might just be."

There was a twinkle in Mario's eye as he signed, 'Then it's settled! Sonic is what we'll call you!'

Once again, Goombario translated, and the new-named 'Sonic' couldn't help but smile back.

He himself couldn't put a finger on it, but he felt that maybe—just maybe—his wish was going to come true.

But in order for that to happen, he, along with Mario, would have to face many dangers and death itself if he wanted _any_ wishes to come true.

-

Princess Peach sighed as she listened to her small music box on her dresser play. It was the music box Mario had bought her on her thirteenth birthday. Of course, now she was fourteen—a few months younger than the said hero—but she still loved that gift more than any other she had gotten.

She sighed again, before reaching out a gloved hand and gently shutting the box. It was too painful to listen to the song. It reminded her too much of him.

Peach could feel a small tear escape as she looked up into the mirror above her drawer. Mario…could it really be that he was finally…gone?

The thought was too much to bear. Her best friend, her crush—her hero—was dead. With a small whimper she folded her arms on her drawer, and buried her face in them, sobbing. Her shoulders shook with each shaky breath as she let her emotions flow.

Mario…the—

"M-m-miss…?"

The quiet voice nearly made the princess jump out of the roof in surprise. Without thinking, she whirled around, only to see…

…that yellow-orange fox-like creature she had seen earlier!

The said being stepped back a couple steps in fear, grabbing one of his tails timidly.

"I-I'm sorry…" the young one quickly apologized. "If you were busy, I—"

"No, no," Peach quickly replied, sniffling a couple times and wiping her eyes with her fingers. "I wasn't busy at all," her hoarse voice answered. After she took another shaky breath, she asked, "How did you get in here?"

"I followed the people who took you here. Nobody saw me, 'cuz they were all watching you," the cub replied.

Peach nodded. "Oh…"

Silence lasted between the two, until she finally asked, "Tell me, though, what's your name?"

"My name is Mi—Tails! Tails! That's my name!" the unknown creature quickly corrected himself.

"Tails…? Is that your real name?" the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom asked to make sure.

"Yep. That's my real name!" the young being replied with a smile.

Peach nodded. "All right, Tails. My name is Princess Peach Toadstool, but you may call me Peach."

Tails smiled, bowing politely and acting like a grown-up. "Nice to meet you, Princess Peach!"

Peach smiled, standing up, and taking the sides of her dress, doing a curtsey in response. "The pleasure is all mine, Monsieur Tails."

The two giggled playfully. Peach smiled. It was nice to have someone lighten up the moment for her.

"So, Tails…what happened? Why did you suddenly appear from no where?" Peach asked as she sat back down.

"Well…I dun't really know. All I know is that me and Sonic were having fun in Emerald Hill Zone, and suddenly, BAM! We're here in the middle of a HUUUUUUUUUGE fight!" the emphasis that Tails put on some of the words, Peach couldn't help but think was cute.

"Wait a minute…did you say 'Sonic'? Is that your friend that fell along with Mario?" the princess inquired, suddenly turning back to seriousness.

Tails' face seemed to cloud over and his baby blue eyes seemed to water. "Y-yeah…"

Peach's face softened. Although she didn't know what in the world Emerald Hill Zone was, it didn't really matter right now. Figuring out where these strange creatures came from would be for another time, she decided. Right now, they needed to time to recuperate after their loss.

Getting down on her knees in front of the kit, the princess outstretched her arms towards Tails. "C'mere, Tails…" she whispered gently. The fox didn't protest as he walked over and launched himself into the inviting embrace. He buried his face in Peach's shoulder, beginning to softly cry.

"Shhh…" was all the princess said as she gently stroked the cub's back.

Peach didn't know how much time had passed, but she was sure it had been a while. By the end, Tails had finally stopped crying, and was now just leaning on her, head still on her shoulder. The princess still held him close, ready to sooth him if he broke out again in a frenzy of tears.

But instead, the fox asked a very difficult question. "Do you think I'll ever see him again?"

Peach was caught off guard. She didn't know how to answer that! How do you tell a five-year-old that someone's dead without making them cry?

Simple.

You don't.

"I don't know, Tails. All we can do is pray," she whispered gently.

The young cub nodded. "I'll pray," he promised. "I'll pray and wish with all my heart that Sonic and that mustachio-man will be okay!"

Peach struggled to keep her laughter inside. The way Tails said it was so serious, and yet it sounded so childish. But she couldn't deny that she would do the same.

_If anyone can hear me…_ she thought. _Please let Sonic and Mario be okay…they are our only hope…_

And boy was she right.


	2. The REAL Prologue: A Plea from the Stars

**Author's Notes:** Whew! (wipes sweat from forehead) Is _this_ one a longer! 0.0 I don't even wanna think about how long the _other_ chapters are gonna be if this one's already 45 pages! Yikes! (waves you off) Just read…it'll make my hard work have gone to some use…

-

**Prologue: A Plea from the Stars**

"So…you're saying you had this dream about a talking star that told you to go to Shooting Star Summit?" Sonic tried to summarize what his Italian plumber friend had signed to him and Goombario only a few moments earlier.

All three of them at the moment sat on the grassy field outside of the Goomba houses, each munching on a delicious red apple. Such delicacies were great after having played an active game of tag…

Mario then nodded. What his friend had said about summed it up.

Sonic swallowed the part he chewed off of his apple. "Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's see what Shooting Star Summit has in store for us!"

"I dunno…something seems fishy…" Goombario said thoughtfully. "I mean…I think I've heard about talking stars before…"

Sonic shrugged. "Talking stars or no talking stars, we aren't gonna figure out anything by just sitting around here. C'mon, let's go!" The blue hedgehog (after talking with Goompapa about it, they had come to the conclusion he looked a lot like Harry Hedgehog, and thus, they decided he was a different breed of hedgehogs; although, whilst they knew he was from a different world, Sonic knew nothing of it) stood up, stretching a bit, his spines straightening, and then relaxing with the movement.

Mario nodded. His friend had the right idea. In agreement, he stood up, stretching as well. Goombario, hesitantly, followed suit, and all three of them then discarded their apples, before heading to the wooden gate that blocked the path to Toad Town.

"So…this IS the way, right?" Sonic quickly whispered to Mario as the trio walked down the path.

The mute smiled at his friend (he was still but a little ten-year-old), before nodding. As the oldest of this group, he subconsciously took it upon his shoulders to be the leader. Although what a task that was with one such as Sonic, he wasn't sure…

Once they arrived at the wooden gate, they noticed that Goompapa was there, smiling at the fence. As they neared, they could hear him proudly muttering, "There! I fixed it!"

All three smiled, thinking along the lines of, 'Good ol' Goompapa,' as Mario asked him if they could head off to Toad Town—Goombario included.

Goompapa opened his mouth in response, but before he could utter a single word, a huge, yellow block dropped down upon the white gate, crushing it to pieces. Goompapa's smile turned into a disappointed, agape mouth in a mere second whilst Mario, Goombario, and Sonic looked up angrily to see who had just blocked their path.

There, on her wooden, flying broom was Kammy Koopa with her beak stretched into a sinister smile.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed. "I knew Bowser hadn't finished you off! It wasn't possible for someone with such a persistent nature as you, Mario, to suddenly die off, even if it WAS because of the Star Rod…"

The said plumber held his ground, fists clenching.

"But I guess now we won't have to worry about such a pest like yourself for a while! Let's see you just try to rescue your beloved princess!" the witch continued.

Whilst Kammy Koopa ranted, Sonic's eyes suddenly widened. An image flashed inside his mind. A lot of it was fuzzy, but there were a few distinct characteristics he could make out. One was her, on her broom, beside some big creature that was blurry in his mind's eye. But though the image, a bunch of emotions spilled out. Pain, confusion, fear…those were the ones that stuck out most. Mainly fear. A cold, spear-like fear that panged his heart. Subconsciously, Sonic stepped back. He had seen her before. He wasn't sure how, but he had seen her, and then pain. Pain…and then blackness, and a feeling of incredible velocity towards…what, he did not know. But from that simple image, Sonic knew she was a key to his past. Albeit a scary one, though.

Kammy Koopa's sudden laugh snapped him out of his thoughts. "…farewell, Mario!" was what he turned in time to hear before the elderly koopa flew off.

Sonic watched until she was out of sight before turning to Mario. "Who was that?"

'Kammy Koopa,' Mario spelled out. Sonic could understand this time, since the Goombas had been kind enough to teach him the alphabet in sign language. If Mario did any other complicated signs, Goombario would have to help.

"Kammy Koopa…odd name…" Sonic shrugged, but secretly tucked that information into the back of his mind for safe-keeping.

Silence then overtook everyone. After a while, a quiet mutter could be heard. Sonic, Mario, and Goombario turned to see who had talked. It was Goompapa.

"Nobody say 'gate' to me again…nobody EVER say 'gate' to me again…" the Goomba repeated, angrily stomping off.

Sonic and Mario blinked once, then twice. Goombario sweatdropped.

"He has a short temper…" he explained quietly.

Sonic shrugged the matter off—always one to look forward and never behind--before turning to the other two. "Well…now what? We can't get to Shooting Star Summit with that huge block in the way!"

The trio went into a state of deep-thinking, until suddenly, it seemed as though a light-bulb appeared over Goombario's head. "I got it! We can use Goompa's hammer! That should be strong enough to break the block!"

Mario nodded, signing, 'Good thinking.'

And thus, the trio set off towards the elder goomba's home. Actually, to put it more accurately, they _ran_. All of them were excited to get on with their adventure. You see, dear reader, there's a certain adrenaline rush that kicks in when you're about to go on one. It clouds over all your senses until all you can think about is what you need to do and that it needs to be done—no regard for _how_ it is done. That was something of the sort that kicked in for these young ones as well.

However, before they could go inside to gain their hammer prize, Goombaria raced up to Goombario.

"Goombario!" she stormed, almost angrily. All three froze in their tracks. You see, again, there's another certain fear, this time, that strikes boys' hearts when a girl gets angry. And trust me, you don't want to cross an angry girl. Ever. (**A/N:** As Sonic would learn later on his lifetime. XD)

"Uh…yeah, sis?" Goombario asked, almost grimacing at the tone his sister was using.

"Are you trying to get out of doing your chores?! Goomama almost made me do them for you!" it was evident the littler Goomba was more than angry—she was furious.

Goombario was surprised. He never meant for that to happen… The older brother opened his mouth to reply, but his sister beat him to it.

"C'mon! Goomama's angry enough as it is!" Goombaria then reached up with her foot to grab the side of Goombario's face (_his hidden ear, perhaps?_) and began dragging him towards another one of the small, one-story-houses.

"Ow…ow…ow…ow..." Goombario could only shoot his two friends a desperate look as a plea for help, but both Sonic and Mario just shrugged, stifling their laughter. There truly was nothing they could do.

'Let's get going. We need that hammer or else we'll never be able to save Mushroom Kingdom,' Mario signed. Sonic nodded. They had told him almost everything about their world (they had a long discussion over this stuff, as you can tell). Thus, he knew almost everything. Almost being the key word, however.

So, without wasting any more time, the two headed inside.

"Goompa!" Sonic called, hands cupping his mouth. No answer. After a few more calls, the two still found themselves drenched in the house's quietness.

Mario then turned to the younger one. 'Maybe he's on the veranda.'

"Let's go see!" Sonic said, nodding.

They, they bounded off towards the back door, excited to get their hands on the hammer. Without thinking, they opened the door and headed outside…

…only to nearly fall out the door and down to the deep jungle beneath.

"WHOA!" Sonic cried arms swinging frantically to regain his balance.

This didn't help Mario much, who had tried to go outside first. With a sickening knot tying up in his stomach, he noticed he was losing balance…

He tried to reach back and grab something to keep him from falling, but the only thing he could grab was Sonic's arm. The sudden tug on Sonic's arm pulled the hedgehog forward, and, unfortunately, into Mario.

_Mumma-mia, not again…_ was the last thought that crossed the plumber's mind before the two plummeted down to the forest floor.

-

"Mario?"

A turn of the head.

"Can you remind me _why_ we wanted to check the veranda?"

Mario bit back a smirk, avoiding the face of the other. Both of their falls had been broken by the tree which they were now stuck in, and neither were in a comfortable position. Sonic was almost literally upside down, one foot caught in the fork of two branches, the other caught in a similar one. His furred arms were stubbornly crossed over his chest, wearing a pout on his face, spines drooping downwards.

Mario, on the other hand, had both feet free, but his whole torso was caught in a mixture of many braches, his arms caught as well.

Needless to say, it wasn't exactly pain-free when they first fell into their positions.

Mario couldn't reply back since his hands were caught in the branches, but his small shrug of the shoulders was a simple enough gesture to say 'Well, you didn't have to agree.'

Sonic merely stuck his tongue out defiantly, but it was obvious that Mario was the guilty party of the petty crime.

A sudden call below them shook them out of their thoughts.

"Mario? Sonic? Is that you two up there?"

Goompa!

"Goompa! That you?" Sonic's face lit up at the sound of the familiar Goomba.

"I reckon it is, Sonnie-boy! What are you fellars doin' up there?"

Sonnie-boy… Sonic frowned. That sounded familiar. Did someone call him that before…?

Mario then poked Sonic, bringing him back to reality.

"Oh…what? We're fine!" the blue one replied hurriedly

The old Goomba didn't seem to notice the hastened response.

"If you say so..." 

Mario spared a small smile. He then tugged on Sonic's arm. They had to get down from the tree.

"Oh…right…" Sonic grinned sheepishly. After being around the plumber for a while, it was easy to read his thoughts like a book by his actions.

In no time, the plumber and hedgehog were down the tree, putting aside for the moment what Sonic had tried to remember. They could worry about that later; besides, as soon as they got down, they saw something that made them completely forget about it.

The whole veranda itself lie crumbled up, and mashed from the fall. It looked like it had been chewed up by a giant chain-chomp and then spat back out.

"Holy. Cow," was the first thing Sonic said.

"I agree," said Goompa as he trotted up to them. "I'm lucky the forest is so dense; I, too, got stuck up in one of them there trees."

'Goompa…' Mario signed, turning around. 'How did that happen?'

His reply was a simple shrug (which consisted of his whole body moving up and then down). "I dunno. I was just mindin' my own business when suddenly the whole thing gave way. It happened too quick."

"I…see…" Sonic said. He turned to look back at the wreckage, when suddenly, instead of a broken, wooden veranda, he saw a mangled, smoking machine with a large round, opening in the top, as if something was supposed to go there…

All at once, he stiffened, breath caught by the image. But it flashed away as quickly as it had come.

A poke on the shoulder. Sonic jumped and whirled around, spines (which were already bristled and suddenly dangerously sharp) involuntarily cutting whatever had touched him. It was Mario. Instantly, the hedgehog was filled with guilt at seeing his friend's red sleeve now tainted with a darker red…

Sonic sucked in a breath, spines relaxing. "My bad! Sorry, Mario."

The plumber simply shook his head, understanding. The spines hadn't hurt him that bad. It was only a scrape…although, he couldn't deny, they were _very_ sharp all of a sudden. What had made his friend so tense? 

Mario saw Sonic's bright green eyes graze over to the broken veranda. Was that it? Had that, too, triggered something in Sonic's mind?

Goompa was apparently oblivious to all this, for he suddenly said, "Hey…what are you fellars doin' here, anyway? It isn't time for supper already…?" 

'No, no,' Mario signed. He put the matter of Sonic's amnesia in the back of his mind for now. 'Not yet. We were looking for you to ask to see if we could borrow your hammer. We need to get to Shooting Star Summit as soon as possible, but there's a stone blocking our way…'

"…so, you want my hammer to break that there block, eh? I guess I can do that! It'll be a while anyway until I feel like startin' up on makin' another veranda…but…" that was where the Goompa broke off.

"But what?" Sonic asked. He, too, was putting off what he couldn't remember.

Goompa fidgeted. "I must've dropped it when I fell…when I got down, I noticed I was in Jr. Toopa's playground—that no good, spoiled kid—when I realized I didn't have my hammer. I think its somewhere among those bushes, but I'll need yer kids' eyes to help me search for it. You up for a little lookin'?"

Sonic and Mario both nodded without a second thought.

"Good! Then let's get crackin'!"

And the search was on.

It seemed like an eternity until Sonic finally yelled, "I found it! I found it!" swinging the hammer high above his head proudly.

Mario and Goompa then trotted up to him, also wearing similar, excited smiles.

"Great job, Sonnie-boy!" Goompa smiled.

Again, that pretense that someone had called him that before… Sonic had to keep himself from growling in irritation. Just who _had_ called him Sonnie-boy before…?

Mario—bless him—saw Sonic's hesitance, and quickly thought of something to keep his friend from getting tuning out again. He held out his hand as if asking to see if he could use the hammer.

Sonic blinked back into reality, before realizing what Mario was intending. He smiled, chuckling a little bit. "You'd probably need it more than me, anyway—I got _daggers_ to keep me safe," he joked, jerking a thumb in the direction of his back.

Goompa shared a hearty laugh. "That you do! My…they are sharper than Harry Hedgehog's!"

"'Course! _Nobody_ can copy this look," to prove his point, Sonic ran a gloved hand over his top spine, smoothing out any loose furs.

Another good laugh from the elderly Goomba. Although Mario couldn't laugh, it was evident he would if he could by the way his sapphire eyes twinkled.

'Come on; we need to get going to Shooting Star Summit,' he reminded the other two.

"Ah, you're right. Before we do, why don't you test that ol' hammer out first, Mario? Gotta figure out the best way ta swing it!" Goompa suggested.

Mario nodded. That was a pretty good idea. It had been a while since he last used a hammer…

Without another word, the plumber headed over to the nearest tree. He held the wooden hammer in front of it, as if aiming for a specific weak point. Then, he pulled it back, looking much like a golfer, before letting it all loose against the tree with a resounding _WHACK_.

To all that were present's surprise, a little doll, shaped much like Princess Peach, dropped out of the tree, landing softly in the grass.

"Whoa, what's that?" Sonic asked as he jogged over, kneeling to pick it up.

Goompa also jogged over, and upon closer inspection of the doll, exclaimed, "Why, that's lil' Goombaria's doll!"

"Goombaria's doll?" Sonic repeated as he stood up, the doll limp in his hands. With a small smile, he added, "Well, I guess that's one more reason we should get back to the Goomba's place!"

Mario nodded. They had better get it back to her. It wasn't fun to lose something so precious.

"Hey, Goompa?" Sonic asked, still holding the doll. "How _do_ we get back up to the Goomba ranch?"

Goompa's face fell. "Ah…" The Goomba turned to look to the right. Then to the left. Then behind them. Finally, he turned to their right. "I do reckon it's this way…although I can't quite be sure…"

Mario shrugged, signing, 'Well, let's try it out.'

And so they did.

In a way, luck was on their side, for they _were_ going the right way. But in another way, luck was against them, for no sooner had they gone a couple feet, than a small, white-shelled koopa jumped in front of them, looking _very_ defensive.

Or offensive, if you considered what he said.

"Hey!" he yelled.

Mario, Sonic and Goompa froze in their tracks, staring at the little koopa.

"What's your problem?!" the stranger continued.

Sonic blinked. "What's _your _problem?"

"_My_ problem?" the child koopa looked even angrier than before. "Who do you think you guys are?! This is _my_ playground and whatever _I_ say goes!"

Mario and Sonic exchanged a side-eyed glance. Talk about hot-tempered.

"Now just calm down there, lil' fellar. We were just passin' through to get back to our place; we didn't mean to—"

"Ah shaddup!" the koopa interrupted Goompa's friendly means of negotiation. "My name's Jr. Troopa and _you're _on my turf!"

Mario rolled his eyes. He could see what was coming…

"So…you gonna let us pass?" Sonic asked.

Jr. Troopa seemed baffled by the suggestion. "Let you pass? No way! I'm gonna make you guys pay for stepping on my territory without my permission!"

Hence, how Sonic's first fight in Mushroom Kingdom began.

Mario held out one arm in front of the other two, as if saying to stand back and let him do the fighting, but Sonic stared at the plumber with furrowed eyebrows. 

"Mario, c'mon! I can handle the guy!" the hedgehog informed. But the minute those words left his mouth, he started to question himself. How _could_ he fight? Hedgehogs…he was a hedgehog…didn't Goompapa say something about them curling up so that their spines attacked the enemy…? That seemed familiar somehow…

The mustached teen spared a glance at his friend. He hadn't seen the other fight…and besides, he was from a different world (but Sonic didn't know that yet); how would he know how to battle on their world?

'Just watch,' he mouthed to Sonic, before grabbing his hammer from his pocket and running forward to do his attack. After successfully whacking the koopa, Mario stood back to bear the brunt of his opponent's attack.

As the fight continued, Goompa pulled Sonic aside so that they could watch. But Sonic was puzzled. They way they were fighting…didn't seem…right. He couldn't place his finger on it, but somehow, he knew that he used to fight…differently. Perhaps by a different pattern?

But the fight, nonetheless, was easy to follow. And even easier for Mario to win.

Sure enough, perhaps by Mario's eighth jump-attack, Jr. Troopa began to stumble around, dizzy.

"Darn it…curse you…Mario…" finally able to decipher where he was able to go, he turned one last time towards the plumber. "Don't you forget me—I'll be back!"

Mario grinned. Wasn't the first time he'd heard something along those lines…

A few minutes later, however, the kid came back, pointing his little hand right up at Mario's face. "And I mean it—I'll be back!" And with that, the koopa was off.

Mario shook his head, amused, before turning towards the other two, and waving for them to follow. Goompa and Sonic jumped up from where they were sitting, and bound forward, eager to return to the 'Goomba Ranch', as Sonic called it.

The little trio then hurried along, following the path, until suddenly (and quite abruptly), Goompa pulled both Mario and Sonic aside roughly.

"Ow! What was that for, Gramps?" the blue hedgehog questioned.

"Sh!" the oldest of the three shushed. He then pointed one brown foot towards the direction they were heading. "You see them there Goombas?"

Both Mario and Sonic nodded.

"Those guys aren't like us. They're loyal to ol' Bowser."

Mario gritted his teeth. Bowser. Flashes ripped through his mind of their last fight. He would be sure to not let a thing like that happen again.

"You gotta be careful of them, Mario. They shouldn't be hard to take out one at a time, but a lot at once can be overwhelming," Goompa advised.

Mario nodded, and to the Goomba's surprise, so did Sonic.

The trio then quietly headed forward, being sure to not attract too many Goombas at once. At first, it was easy for Mario to knock the first few clear out of the way with his hammer, but the further they got along, the denser the patches of Goombas were.

"Forget about 'em—just run!" Sonic finally cried.

Desperate, the group ran through, jumping and avoiding the little Goombas and even the flying ones, too. To their relief, up ahead, they spotted the gate that closed off the 'Goomba Ranch' to Jr. Troopa's playground.

"I gotta get there first; Mario, see if you can distract them there Goombas while I unlock the fence!" Goompa informed. The plumber nodded, and without another word, turned around abruptly, hammer in hand as if it were a sword.

Sonic, although hating the fact that he was being ignored, followed Goompa up to the gate, not knowing much about what he could do.

Soon enough, Goompa had the fence unlocked, and pushed it open, stepping through hurriedly. Sonic turned around to call to Mario, but instead froze in his tracks. Mario was surrounded by a bunch of flying Goombas and ground Goombas. He didn't stand a chance—especially not in his still-weakened state! They were beating him up! 

"Sonnie, hurry! Get Mario!" Goompa exclaimed.

The whole scene was causing the Goomba family to come out from their houses and all around to gather and see what was happening to the world-renowned hero. There were various cries of, "Oh, Mario!" and "Somebody help him—he's still weak!" Sonic began to sweat. Well, here went nothing…

Before he even knew what happened, Sonic had Mario's wrist in his hand, and was already out the gate as quick as a flash.

Silence.

Everyone stared at him, mouths agape. Even the enemy Goombas were shocked.

Sonic, too, was caught off guard by his speed. But for some reason, his mind was on hyper-drive, too.

"Close the gate already!" he shouted.

Goompa, suddenly seeming as if he was shaken from a dream, did as told. The gate clanged shut, and then silence resumed once more.

"How…did you…do…that?" Sonic turned to see it was Goombario who had spoken.

"I…" Truth was, even Sonic didn't know. He turned to look at Mario, and then realized his hand was still locked around Mario's wrist in white-knuckle grip. Hurriedly, he let go.

"Wow…" that was Goombaria. Suddenly, her eyes sparkled up once more as if she were alive again, and exclaimed, "Goomama, did you see that? He was like lightning!"

But the mother Goomba could only nod. She was still in shock.

Sonic looked around. All the eyes of the Goomba family—even Mario—were locked on him.

"Well…I guess it's a good thing we called you Sonic, right?"

Goombario.

Sonic couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah…" he said admittedly. "I guess it is…"

Mario smiled as well. It wasn't everyday you met someone who could run as fast as a blink of an eye.

"Hey, what about your trip to Shooting Star Summit? You guys better hurry if you wanna save Princess Peach!" Goomama reminded them.

Sonic tried to keep in his sigh of relief. At least everyone wasn't staring at him as if he was from another world or something anymore…

Mario nodded, though. 'She's right. We'd better get going, Sonic.'

Sonic smiled, nodding back.

The two then made a move to leave, but a sudden cry from Goombario made them stop.

"Wait!" the teenage Goomba yelled. He trotted up to them, and looked at them a moment, before looking down. "I…well…you see…I…I've been thinking and…and I was wondering…if you'd let me come with you guys to save Princess Peach."

Thinking that the sudden silence meant something bad, the Goomba hurriedly continued, "I'll be a lot of help! I know more about enemies than anyone else and I can head-bonk really hard! Goompapa says that my head is as hard as a rock!"

Mario and Sonic exchanged a glance, having a silent conversation. It wouldn't be bad to take the kid along, it sounded like…

"Please…?" Goombario plead.

Finally, Mario turned to the Goomba. 'All right,' he signed. 'You can come—but only if your parents allow you to.'

"YES!" without another word, the excited teen headed off to his parents.

Sonic laughed.

Mario turned to look at his friend with a questioning glance, but the hedgehog was already explaining.

"I can just tell this is gonna be one great adventure…" the hedgehog murmured with a broad smile. "One of the greatest there will ever be!" His green eyes shone with such brilliance only a ten-year-old like himself could muster.

But was he ever right.

Before too long, Goomba was trotting back up to them, wearing a smile that Mario thought was the biggest one he'd ever saw.

"They said I can go! Can you believe it? This is gonna be great!" needless to say, the Goomba was ecstatic.

Mario's eyes once again twinkled with laughter. 'This really is. So, are you guys ready?' he signed to his new companions.

Sonic nodded, and Goombario said, "Am I ever!"

'Then let's go!' And after waving and saying a few good-byes (and giving Goombaria back her doll), the small band of heroes was off, the only thing left to signal that they had left being many broken pieces of a once-large yellow block.

-

_WHAM!_

_WHACK!  
_

_KA-POW!_

"Gosh dang it, how many of them are there?" Sonic cried.

After head-bonking head another Goomba, Goombario answered, "I dunno…maybe we should just run for it!"

"Oh, like what I did last time?" Sonic asked with a smirk as he punched yet another Goomba out of the way. He had learned a few fighting moves from his teammates, although some of them seemed familiar…

Mario straightened and turned to Sonic, signing, 'Actually…that might not be a bad idea…'

Sonic blinked in surprise. "I wasn't actually meaning it…"

"No, but Mario's got a point!" –another head-bonk— "It would get us passed these guys a lot quicker and we can save our energy to get to Toad Town in the _first_ place!"

Sonic turned to his friends with a look of dread. "But I don't even know what I did! I was running before I even did that—but when I did it that time…"

"Oh, who cares?!" Goombario finally cried, jumping up on Sonic and gripping his arm with his two feet for dear life. "Just run!"

Sonic turned to Mario, a bit hesitantly, but the plumber simply grabbed onto the hedgehog's other arm. His expression read the same as what Goombario had said, 'Just run.'

With a gulp, Sonic bent his knees. _You've done this before…_ he told himself silently as he closed his eyes. _Yeah…you've done it before… _For some reason, that thought comforted him. _A lot more…_ Without realizing it, Sonic's back arched, right hand reaching down to touch the ground. His spines flattened against himself, and his muscles tensed, as if gathering energy. He had done this before, it seemed like. Somewhere…he ran…all the time…

_All the time…_

As quick as a flash, Sonic's eyes snapped open to reveal bright, emerald irises, full of a personality that seemed forgotten. But none of the Goombas had a chance to react, for in likety-split, the hedgehog was off, running at a speed that no normal person could reach.

Sonic's breath was caught in his throat, even though he could breathe. Yes…yes! This—he had done this before! He loved it! This…this was apart of him; this was why his name was Sonic! With a heart longing for more, the hedgehog sped up. He had to go faster…had to keep going…had to—

A sudden and abrupt pull on his arm made the ten year old cry out and turn abruptly to the right—so abruptly, that the turn made him tumble to the ground, feet creating a round half-circle in the ground. For a while, he just lay there, panting, before lifting his head.

"Mario! What was that for?!" he addressed the standing plumber. He was, after all, the one who had been hanging on his right arm. Goombario, meanwhile, was shaken up from the intense run. He just clung to Sonic's left arm like it was life, his face ghostly pale.

'You ran over two Goombas!' the plumber signed.

Two Goombas? What did that matter? Weren't they _supposed_ to be running over them? But after following the plumber towards the two he had run over, he could see what Mario meant. These Goombas were not like the others. One was blue, and one was red. Surely that had to mean something…? 

Mario knelt down on one knee beside the Goombas, and signed, 'Are you guys okay?'

The red Goomba nodded, out of breath, before standing up. "Yeah…yeah we're—hey, you're Mario!"

The sudden change of attitude caught the plumber off guard as he stood up, nodding. Goombario, meanwhile, by this time, seemed to have relaxed a bit and was now on the ground as well, although still a bit jumpy.

The blue Goomba jumped to his feet as well. "You're Mario?"

Again, the famous plumber nodded.

"Well, we've got a special message to you from the Goomba king himself!" the blue Goomba (seemingly the younger of the two) informed.

Mario shared a glance between Sonic and Goombario. The Goomba king…?

"Yeah!" the red Goomba joined in. "We're not supposed to let any of you get passed us! There's no way you can defeat Bowser—you might as well give up!"

Mario clenched his fists. Surprisingly, the very things he was thinking were voiced by the hedgehog standing behind him.

"Giving up? As if! You tell that Bowser that _he's_ the one who don't stand a chance!" Sonic exclaimed.

The red Goomba got even redder with anger as he stomped up to the talking opponent. "You listen here, you, you, you…whatever you are! You talk big, but can you actually do what you say?"

Sonic braced himself, spines bristling. "You better believe it!"

"Fine then! Prove it!"

And the fight was on.

"Mario, you take on the blue one—I've got this guy," Sonic directed.

Mario nodded. Although the hedgehog was younger than he, the plumber was humble enough to follow orders if they were the best idea.

"Be careful, you guys!" Goombario called from the sidelines. "Their barks are bigger than their bites! You can take 'em out easy!"

Both fighters nodded.

Mario jumped forward, landing on the blue Goomba's head, before back-flipping off and landing easily. Sonic did a punch, before stepping back and narrowly avoiding a head-bonk by the red Goomba.

Again, Mario did a jump-attack, but this time, as soon as he landed, got hit on the head with a head-bonk from the blue foe. The plumber grit his teeth, before grabbing his hammer and whacking his opponent with it mercilessly.

Sonic, meanwhile, just got finished dodging another head-bonk, when he successfully did a round-house kick. This knocked the red Goomba back a ways, but the hedgehog didn't have time to gloat. Almost immediately, his opponent ran back towards him, attempting another head-bonk—this time, contacting.

Of course, our heroes were still inexperienced (yes, even Mario, dear reader) in the ways of fighting. They were new to this adventure, after all—for this, as they learned, was their greatest one yet.

Many years from now, both Sonic and Mario would look upon this adventure and say it was the one that started it all. Of course, they've saved their homelands many times already by getting rid of the evil at hand. But never before this have they ever had to save an entire world…

This was the first, although neither of them knew it.

"Mario, look out!" Goombario cried.

The said plumber instantly turned around just in time to dodge one last head-bonk, before he smacked his hammer down on the blue Goomba—ending his fight.

The red Goomba froze at seeing his younger brother crumbled up, and beaten. "Little brother! Grr…I'm gonna make you pay, Mario!" But he never got the chance. Before he even took one step, Sonic planted another kick to his head, ending his fight as well.

Sonic smirked. "Let that be a lesson to you guys—_never_ turn your back on a still-kickin' hedgehog."

Mario grinned, and high-fived his teammate.

"That was great, you guys!" Goombario commented as he waddled up to them.

Sonic nodded, still smiling. "Thanks!"

All three of them turned to the two Goombas who were now just picking themselves up from the ground. "Don't think you've gotten rid of us yet…" the red Goomba informed.

"Yeah! We'll still stop you!" the blue Goomba announced.

The red Goomba turned to his companion. "C'mon, younger brother. We'll go tell on them to the Goomba king. _Then_ we'll see who's laughing!"

The blue Goomba chuckled as they waddled off. "Yeah!"

The trio of heroes just blinked after them, until they couldn't see them anymore. Then, silence.

"…we sure we wanna go that way?" Goombario asked quietly.

Mario nodded. 'Toad Town's that way; we're going that way,' he signed.

Goombario nodded, gulping. "I just hope that 'Goomba king' isn't all what they say he is…"

Silence.

The sky began to darken with heavy rain clouds, but our heroes didn't notice. They were bracing themselves for what they had to go up against.

Suddenly, Sonic stepped forward. "Well…let's get this over with."

The other two nodded. Hanging on to what courage they had, the trio trekked forward, determined to go to Toad Town.

It didn't take them very long until they came upon a tall, stone tower with two large red doors in front of it. When peeking around, they noticed there was a large gap between the land they were on and the land across from them.

Goombario was the first to notice something amiss.

"Um…guys? I'm pretty sure there was supposed to be a bridge in between here and Toad Town…what happened to it?"

Silence.

Even Mario seemed shocked there wasn't a bridge anymore.

"Well…_now_ what do we do?" 

As if in answer to Sonic's question, the red doors suddenly swung open, revealing a very large Goomba dressed in red and white striped pants and a crown atop his head with the two Goombas they encountered earlier. Rather _loudly_, the larger Goomba stomped up to them.

"Whoa…" Sonic whispered. "He's _huge_…"

And huge the Goomba was.

Even his deep, roaring voice could testify to that.

"I am the Goomba King! Are ye the ones who have dared mess with these Goombas?" the large Goomba spoke.

Mario nodded without second thought. Those Goombas deserved it, anyway…

"Hmph. Then prepare to make it no further! For now you shall meet your demise! All those who defy Bowser's reign shall meet the same fate as you!" the Goomba King continued.

_Bowser's outdoing himself this time…_ Mario thought grimly. _I never thought he'd have the guts to actually take over all of the Mushroom Kingdom!_

"Mario, look out!" Sonic yelled as he pushed aside the plumber. Both landed on the ground, narrowly avoiding the kick the King had thrown at them.

Goombario held his ground. "I'll help out this time, too!" He announced, and with that, ran forward, delivering a hard head-bonk to the Goomba King.

Sonic stood up quickly, surveying the scene. "Great, those guys are here, too!" he mumbled, spotting the Red Goomba and Blue Goomba.

"Then take them out quick! I'll deal with the Goomba King!" Goombario exclaimed.

But before either could move, a large, _large_ tree nut fell on top of the Goomba King's head, before rolling off and bonking both of the littler Goombas as well, and taking them out.

Sonic and Goombario blinked in surprise.

"What the…?" both turned to see Mario standing beside a large tree, leaning on his wooden hammer casually and acting as if nothing had happened.

Sonic laughed. "_Way_ past cool, Mario!"

The plumber grinned, picking up his hammer, and stepping back into the fight. All three then turned to the Goomba King, their final adversary, before suddenly…

"Hey, is it…raining?" Goombario asked.

That paused their fight momentarily, and everyone looked up at the sky. Sure enough, soon, it was pouring.

"Great…I hate rain…" Sonic mumbled.

"Then maybe it will be easier to take you out," the Goomba King informed.

Sonic scoffed. "Ha! You wish." And with that, he raced forward, jumping up to plant a foot on the enemy's head, and back-flipping off.

Unfortunately, he landed in a mud puddle, splattering the dirt and grim all over himself. But not that it mattered. He was too caught up in the fight to notice.

In fact, the whole group was getting themselves covered with mud. But they never noticed. This Goomba was standing between them and Toad Town. He was going to go _down_.

Mario grit his teeth, running forward and ramming his hammer against the Goomba king. This guy was tougher than he thought! Almost as tough as Bowser! The plumber struggled to grasp the concept. If this guy was now following Bowser…then was it true he was really no match for Bowser's strength? The Koopa King was definitely stronger and more determined now than ever to rule the world. It used to be all about Princess Peach…but now…has Bowser saw a greater prize in conquering all of Mushroom Kingdom?

The thought brought dread over Mario. He had never saved the world before. Could he do it? Certainly not alone! But…he wasn't alone. The plumber turned to look at his companions, who were still fighting with everything they had. It was the first time he really saw how dirty they were…but that only added to the power of the image.

Sonic and Goombario…were here because of _him_. They were fighting _right by his side_. Mario gripped his hammer tightly. And would they continue to fight? Fight…until the end? Until all was done and Mushroom Kingdom was safe?

Bowser could not win. That much was for sure. If he took over the world…Mario dared not think of it. The Koopa King would ruin the place. No more peaceful fields and happy meadows…no, it would be a place full of darkness and fire. If there was one thing Mario learned after all his years of rivalry against the Koopa Lord, it was that he was obsessed with fire.

The plumber could remember the first time he had fought Bowser. At that time, Mario had a reason to be scared. Bowser was a ferocious monster under that childish façade, and he had shown it during their first battle. He could be every bit nasty and destructive as he wanted to, and yet he could also be every bit dumb and gullible. It was an odd concept. But that didn't change the fact that Mario would not allow a Koopa like that to rule his world.

No way.

Mario furrowed his eyebrows. If Bowser was going full throttle this time, then so would he.

"Mario…!" Sonic called.

The plumber's attention snapped towards his blue friend. The hedgehog was exhausted. The fight had tired him, and he looked like he would collapse any moment. His legs shook from under him, threatening to give out, and his arms hung lip at his sides—not broken, but used beyond their limits.

"Goombario's down…and the guy's got one hit left…finish him off…!" Sonic panted.

Mario nodded. They had done their job, and so it was time to do his. With a fierce glint in his sapphire eyes, the Italian teen bounded towards the Goomba King for the final strike…

It all seemed to happen in a slow, triumphant motion.

Mario swung the hammer towards the wounded Goomba, smacking him dead on the forehead. The force was immense. The Goomba King was knocked off his feet, and fell backwards to the ground, body limp. And then, the fight was over.

The two littler Goombas gasped.

"Great Goomba King!" they cried, huddling over to their fallen leader.

The large one groaned loudly, before forcing himself to stand up. He sent a nasty glare in the direction of the victors, before turning around and running back towards the tower, the Goombas on his heels. The red doors slammed shut after them.

Mario turned towards Sonic in time to see a weak Goombario trod towards them. He must've woken up from his unconsciousness.

"Well…did we win?" he asked weakly.

"SH!" was Sonic's reply, ears twitching frantically.

'What is it?' Mario signed.

His reply was a sudden flash of blue as the hedgehog burst towards the red doors, face pressed against it and ear pricked. He must be hearing something…

Goombario and Mario walked up to their friend, and also leaned against the doors, trying to hear what Sonic was. In a few minutes, they heard everything.

"…did you hide the switch?"

The Goomba King.

"Which switch?"

The red Goomba.

"The switch that activates the bridge! Where has thou hidden it?"

Mario, Sonic and Goombario exchanged glances. So…there _was_ a bridge!

"Ohhhhhhh…_that_ switch…yeah, I hid it. And I hid it real good, too!"

"Where?"

"Outside in the bushes somewhere."

Silence.

Mario, Sonic and Goombario could hardly believe their luck.

"_Imbeciles!_" Obviously, the Goomba King was not all too happy about this…

"_Outside in the bushes? Does thou not know that Mario is capable of finding the switch if it is there?!_"

The three heroes stepped back. They had heard enough. It was time to find that switch. With an eager smile on all of their faces, they split up to search for it, the heavy rain not being able to dampen their spirits.

"Got it!" Goombario suddenly exclaimed. Well, _that_ certainly did not take long…

Mario and Sonic turned just in time to see the Goomba jump on top of a blue switch that burst into white smoke upon contact, before grinning wildly.

_Now_ let's see that Goomba King try to keep them from getting to Toad Town…

Almost immediately, the trio saw the said enemy leaning out from one of the tower windows.

"Ah…Mario. I have come to warn you of something. If thou happen to findest a blue switch…please to not touch it. It…ah…will do something very…ah…terrible."

The group, standing together, struggled to stifle their laughter.

Mario, who could not laugh, still found his shoulders shaking as he signed, 'Too late. We already pressed it.'

The Goomba King's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. That only made the heroes' task of not laughing only harder.

"_Thou hast already—_"

But he never got to finish.

Suddenly, there came a great rumbling from the ground, shaking the trees and even the tower itself. To the heroes' amazement, the sides of the tower started to crumple off, revealing large, stacked, rectangle stones. The Goomba King and his two Goomba followers were, ironically, on top of them. Suddenly, the whole stack of stones leaped up as if on springs, straightening themselves out into a pathway, and falling into place between the two cliffs. The Goomba King and Goombas were literally blown away.

And then, the rumbling quieted, and it was just Mario, Sonic and Goombario and the rain.

Silence.

And then…

"Yes! _Yes!_ We did it!" Sonic cheered.

The whole group had a little party moment, dancing for joy in the rain. Little did they know their happiness would be short…

"Race ya across the bridge!" Sonic called, before bursting off towards the other side.

"Hey, wait up!" the tired Goombario cried, following as fast as he could.

Mario couldn't help but shake his head. If the hedgehog was tired, too, he surely didn't show it…although the plumber couldn't shake off the feeling that his friend was more beat up than he appeared…

With a smile, Mario jogged after them. _Just wait, talking stars. We'll be at Shooting Star Summit soon,_ he thought.

As the trio laughed and smiled as they headed to Toad Town, no one noticed a familiar old Koopa and her broom, flying high in the sky, who had seen and heard every word.

-

The door slammed open.

"Mighty King Bowser…I have important news for you!" Kammy Koopa announced, arms upraised as if in distress.

Bowser turned around, seeming to yawn. "What is it now, Kammy?"

His right hand gal seemed to ignore the informality of the Koopa Lord as she exclaimed, "Mario and his two friends have defeated the Goomba King and are now on their way to Toad Town even as we speak!"

"_What?!_" the sudden shout was so loud, Kammy swore the room shook.

"I made that chump king because he _begged_ me to, and _this _is how he repays me? By getting beat up by some teenage plumber? GAH!" Bowser stomped loudly in irritation.

Kammy Koopa's eyes seemed to glint behind her glasses. "Ah…but I have vital information that might aid us in defeating Mario…"

"Let's hear it," the Koopa King sighed.

"Very well, my lord. Apparently, one of Mario's friends—the strange blue one that is from another world—has a gift…"

"A gift? As in presents? I love presents!"

"Not _that _kind of gift, Your Impatientness! The kind of gift as in…a special talent…"

"Talent?"

"Yes, yes…a talent…apparently, this blue one…has the ability to reach supersonic speeds…hence his name, Sonic…"

Pause.

"That sounds awfully cheesy to me." 

"But it is true, Your Lordship! This blue one is faster than any I have ever seen!"

"And _how _is this supposed to help me in my world domination…?"

Again, Kammy Koopa's eyes glinted dangerously. "Ah…you will find out soon enough, your worthiness…soon enough…"

Bowser shifted positions. "Well, enough about that alien. What about those stars? They are separated safely, right?"

"Yes, my lord. With your specifically picked guards at each one," Kammy replied.

"Good, good. Which one is Mario closest to?" The Koopa King asked.

"The one at Koopa Bros. Fortress, sire," was the answer.

As if on cue, the door opened once more, and in stepped four small Koopas. Each had a mask over his eyes and gloves to match. One had a red set (apparently the leader), one had yellow, one had green, and the other had black. All looked like fierce ninjas.

"Here we are, sir! The mighty Koopa Bros.!" the red one announced.

"So I see…are you guys really capable of protecting that star like I ordered you?" Bowser questioned.

All four Koopas nodded vigorously. "Of course, sir!" the red one announced. "Mario will never get that star—especially with our new move! Let's show 'im, boys!"

They could never remember regretting any other choice they had made more.

What Bowser had then witnessed—that amazing, although simple attack--pleased the truly evil side of him. It was as if the old him had awakened, the side craving destruction, fire, and devastation.

"Perfect…" he purred.

Kammy Koopa resisted the urge to gasp, look away and tremble in fear. Even she remembered the old days, the days when Bowser was a truly fearsome beast. She had to admire Mario's courage—even at such a young age--to have had stood up to him. She knew she couldn't have.

But the way Bowser had talked even then, sounded just like that monster he had been. Perhaps…perhaps that side was still not dead yet. That thought alone scared the Koopa more than anything else in the world.

Even the Koopa Bros., who could not keep their knees from shaking, tried to stare back at their king whom they had just pleased. That was a highly difficult task.

"With that move, Mario shall surely meet his demise…" Bowser's voice seemed to fill with lust for the death of the plumber. Even his claw clenched shut viciously, mouth seeming to moisten with the desire.

Kammy knew she had to do something quick. No one wanted to see the old Bowser again. Not even his faithful followers.

"Um, hold on just one moment…if you guys are here, then who's guarding that star right now…?" Kammy knew she was walking out on a limb, here. If she said that wrong, then Bowser's old side would surely start really kicking. But if she said it just right…then maybe…

"_You idiots!_"

Bingo. She did it.

"Go guard that stupid star before I come on in after ya!" Bowser roared.

With rushed 'sorry's and panicked yet thankful expressions, the quartet burst out of the room, heading back to their lair to guard their star.

Bowser rubbed a hand against his forehead. "What am I gonna do with them…?"

Kammy Koopa had to stop her proud smile before it grew. "I don't know, sire. I truly don't know."

-

"I…I can't believe it…"

"…we made it…_we made it!_"

With a loud 'woohoo!' Sonic jumped into the air for joy. The rain had stopped, but all of them were covered head to toe with mud. Not that any of them cared. They had made it—and that thought in itself whipped away all their previous depressions.

Even Mario was excited. He jumped as well. In front of them was a long, red-covered walkway, with imprinted on the front, in yellow letters, "Toad Town."

They were almost to Shooting Star Summit.

"Well, c'mon! What are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Goombario exclaimed.

And so, with fire in their hearts, the group ran in to town.

There were toads everywhere—pink ones, yellow ones, blue ones—all going about their daily lives. Every once in a while, the group got some weird glances from the townspeople, but besides that, they were literally unnoticed.

"Oh man, am I beat!" Goombario announced as they started walking through. "Hey, Mario? Can we find Shooting Star Summit tomorrow and just stay at an inn tonight?"

The plumber thought about this for a moment, before shaking his head. 'We'd best get to the summit as soon as possible. We can shower and take a nap, but not for long.'

"But…"

Mario again shook his head, amused, but still standing firm. 'No 'buts'. We have to get to Shooting Star Summit quickly.'

"But…"

Sonic, who had been oblivious to this conversation, was busy looking at the town with wide eyes. "Wow…" he breathed.

"Mommy, mommy! Lookie! What is that thing?"

Sonic's ear flickered as he picked up the excited question of a child nearby. He stopped walking, and turned his head around, seeing a small, pink, girl toad with and her mother, an orange toad.

The girl was pointing at him.

The mother seemed to panic that he had seen her child, for she quickly grabbed her daughter's other hand, pulling her away. "I'm not sure, dear, but whatever you do, don't touch it. It could be a monster."

Sonic's ears flattened against his head. He wasn't a monster.

The little girl flashed one fearful glance his way, before following her mother to her home.

Sonic watched them a minute more, before turning around and hurrying to catch up with Mario and Goombario, who were now standing in front of a large, pale yellow building with a sign that bore a large red mushroom on it nearby.

"What is this place?" he asked as he neared them. Best to forget what that mother had told her child…after all, why focus on the bad things in life?

'An inn,' Mario signed. 'Come on. Let's get a room, shower up, sleep for a _little while_'--there was emphasis in his hand movements in the direction of Goombario for those two words—'and then head to Shooting Star Summit.'

Sonic looked up at the building. "_This _is an _inn_?"

Mario nodded.

The blue hedgehog frowned. "Doesn't look like one."

"Well, it is one. Can we stop talking and go inside already?! I'm dying of exhaustion, here!" and with that, Goombario trotted inside.

Mario shrugged towards Sonic, before following. Sonic soon followed as well, what he had heard only moments earlier by the little girl and her mother far from his mind.

However, when our heroes were ready to set off towards Shooting Star Summit, it was already night time. Goombario, as they left the inn, would not stop complaining on how it wasn't healthy for a Goomba to have only three hours of sleep. Mario and Sonic didn't really listen, but it was humorous to hear what made-up points their friend could think of.

"…it really is fatal for a Goomba! I've heard of one that only got twenty minutes of sleep and died the next day! Sleep is an essential part of a Goomba's lifestyle! It is recommended that Goombas sleep around nine hours a day; that way, we can conserve our energy. Do you know how hard it is to live with two limbs? Doggone it…"

Mario and Sonic exchanged another glance. Ramble, ramble, ramble. That was all they had heard and they weren't even five minutes onto their journey.

However, once they got passed the blue gate, all of them froze at the sight before them. Even Goombario ceased his rambling in surprise.

Before them was just a land of rubble. Trees were overturned, the fountains were broken…it literally looked like a hurricane swept through.

Mario let out a deep breath—seemingly a sigh.

"What happened to this place…?" Sonic whispered, almost afraid to ask. Hesitantly, he lightly kicked a loose stone. To his surprise, it crumbled under his touch.

'Bowser…this was where Peach's Castle used to be…' Mario signed sadly.

"Whoa…" Sonic whispered.

Goombario was flabbergasted. "But that's impossible! How can such a huge building be swept up into the air?"

Mario's sorrowful eyes looked upward to the sky, as if looking for the now-airborn castle itself. 'Remember that period of peace we had…? For about two years we hadn't heard high nor tail of Bowser…during that time, he was busy building his own fortress under Peach's Castle…that's how he was able to lift it up into the air…'

Goombario couldn't stop the gasp from his throat. "You've got to be kidding. It's not like Bowser to do that—he's usually just after Peach!"

"But now he's trying to rule the _whole world_…?" Sonic asked faintly, holding another loose stone in his hand.

Silence. The thought was running through their heads, haunting them and tormenting them.

It felt like an eternity before Goombario finally spoke, "So…what do we do…? I mean…does anybody know Bowser isn't only after Peach…?"

Mario shrugged his shoulders in a gesture to say, 'I don't know.'

"I think all they know is that Bowser has kidnapped Peach again, and Mario's on his way to save her. I mean…look at the townspeople!" Sonic informed. "They don't look scared! They believe in you, Mario, that you'll save the day again…"

There was a long silence as both Sonic and Goombario stared at their third teammate to see what he would say.

Finally, Mario lifted his hands, still looking at the sky, to sign, 'But I can't save the world. I'm only fourteen. You saw how beat up I was after I fought Bowser; there's no way I can save Mushroom Kingdom this time…there's just no way…'

"But you have to, Mario! You're the only one who's brave enough!" Sonic exclaimed. His young, emerald eyes showed hurt and desperation, his fists clenched in front of him (the stone crumbled in his hand, unnoticeable).

"Yeah—and everyone thinks you're gonna save Peach! You can't let them down!" Goombario added.

"You just can't!" both of them said—although not intending to at the same time.

Again, there was no movement or silence for the longest of times. Then…

'But I can't do it alone…' Mario signed finally. 'On my own, I'm not strong enough. I don't know who will help me, but I'll need it. Bowser's too powerful for my own strength.'

"Dude, what do you think I was expecting when I asked my parents to come along with you on your journey—of course I'll help you!" Goombario instantly exclaimed.

Sonic furrowed his eyebrows. "And don't forget about me—there's no way I'm gonna let you save Mushroom Kingdom alone! I'll fight, too!"

Finally, Mario tilted his head down to look at his two friends, his new allies. 'Do you really mean it…?'

"Heck yeah! We helped you get to Toad Town, didn't we? There's no way we're gonna ditch you now!" Sonic replied.

Goombario found he could only nod in agreement.

There was a pause for a few minutes, before Mario finally smiled. 'Okay then. That means we're together in this—together, we're gonna save Mushroom Kingdom and overthrow Bowser.'

Both Sonic and Goombario nodded.

'…you think we can do it?' Mario signed.

"I got no doubts!" Goombario grinned.

'All right, then,' Mario signed, throwing his hand out. 'To save Mushroom Kingdom,' he mouthed.

Sonic put his hand on next. "For Mushroom Kingdom!" 

There was a pause as the two waited for Goombario. But all their little friend said was, "Um…a little lower, please?" 

Sonic laughed, and Mario's shoulders shook for the gesture. But the two did as requested, squatting down so then Goombario could throw his foot on top of the pile of hands.

_For the planet I was born on, and the planet I will die on…_ Mario thought bravely, furrowing his eyebrows.

Sonic smirked, saying, "Mushroom Kingdom, I give you…" Taking the cue, the three lifted their hands up high, breaking the pile but uniting together all the same. "…your future world-heroes!"

And indeed, they were only the beginning of the greatest group of heroes Mushroom Kingdom would ever see.

-

"So…where _is_ Shooting Star Summit, anyway?" Goombario asked quietly as the trio trudged on in the darkness of night. The only reassurance they had that they were actually going a right way was the tip-tap of their feet against a stone path.

Sonic shrugged, and so did Mario, but because of the darkness, Goombario could only rely on the silence as the answer, 'I don't know.'

A few more minutes of silence went by, before Sonic said, "The place can't really be that far away, can it…? We've been walking for hours!"

"Actually, it hasn't been that long…only about—"

"Okay, okay, I know, I know…" Sonic interrupted Goombario's response, being every bit of the impatient kid that he was.

Goombario rolled his eyes at the interruption, whilst Mario only smiled. This was going to be an interesting journey…

But no later had that thought crossed his mind than a shooting star landed right beside them, and instead of making a large crater, it simply exploded softly in a shimmer of sparkles.

"Whoa! Way past cool!" Sonic shouted, amazed.

"I guess this means we're close…?" Goombario offered hesitantly.

Since it was dark, Mario couldn't communicate with them, so he simply nodded, hoping they saw it.

As they continued along (more hastened this time), more and more falling stars fell around them, exploding quietly into a burst of glitter. It was a beautiful sight. But not so spectacular as what they saw before them a few seconds later…

"Whoa," Sonic whispered.

'Whoa' didn't even cover it. Before them was what—at daytime—would look like an average, ordinary, hill. But at night, like they were before it, the hill shone with a blue-green brilliance, little outlines of stars on it as well. It was as if the small mountain was…alive…and glowing with its own inner light…

And the grass on the hill? It wasn't green—it was a calm magenta in color.

All around them, stars continued to fall as Sonic, Mario and Goombario stood there, transfixed on the sight before them.

"Well…let's go! Some talking stars need our help!" Sonic finally said with a wide smile. With that, he hurried bounded up the hill as if an unseen voice was calling him, begging him to see what lay on top. Mario and Goombario followed soon after, acting the same as he. Exhilaration made their breath become caught in their throats, their hearts beating wildly in anticipation. They could not believe it…finally…after what seemed like a road of trials and tribulations, they had made it to Shooting Star Summit…

But their journey—unknown to them—was _far_ from over.

A soon as they reached the top of the hill, they froze once again. On the top of the mountain lay a large, circular stone on which seven little circles with stars in the middle outlined it. But that wasn't the cause of the heroes' fear to even dare walk on it. It was the shimmering, fading in and out figure of a star…a star with a grey mustache that only Mario had seen in his dream…

"Greetings, young heroes. I have been waiting long for you," the star spoke. His voice cracked with age, but his eyes showed deep wisdom.

"Talking stars…" Goombario breathed, completely amazed. "Incredible…"

"My name is Eldstar. Now, you needn't be afraid. I have called you here because my comrades and I are in dire need of your services…Mario, please come to the center of the circle," the mustached star continued.

Mario did as told, wary, but trusting.

But as soon as his other foot landed on the middle circle, a blue light started to grow from it, spreading throughout the stone and enlighting the small lines and designs. Sonic and Goombario stepped back, surprised and amazed. Mario could only stare in shock.

"Do not worry. That is only a calling to my comrades—the other stars—so that they might come here to show themselves," Eldstar assured. "I have not let you into a trap."

Mario looked up, eyes questioning, but the star was already talking.

"Mario…my comrades and I need your help. A few nights ago, our peaceful home—Star Haven—was invaded by a foul creature whom you know as Bowser. By some evil magic, he was able to access Star Sanctuary and steal the legendary Star Rod…"

_So that's what Peach was gasping about—and that's that stick Bowser was using! _Mario thought, surprised. Finally things were starting to click…

"…after having done so, he sealed us seven stars, the Star Spirits, the ones who grant peoples' wishes, in different places all across Mushroom Kingdom, so that we might not band together and win back our precious Star Rod. Together, we have the power to overcome the Star Rod's magic, but separated and weakened, we have no chance. That is why we call on you, Mushroom Kingdom's legendary hero, to rescue us so that we may stop Bowser before he gets his wish—the wish of ruling Mushroom Kingdom."

Sonic and Goombario exchanged glances. So they were right! Bowser really is going all the way this time! 

Mario thought over this, mulling about it, before signing, 'What can the Star Rod do—what's so special about it?'

There was a pause, as if Eldstar was taking a breath (only then had Mario caught the faintest of glimpses of fatigue from the old star), before he spoke again. "Like I said, us seven Star Spirits are the very creatures who grant people's wishes—and not only Mushroom Kingdom's wishes, but all of the galaxy's wishes. And the Star Rod…the Star Rod is what we use to grant people's wishes. It bends to its wielder's will, creating magic to grant its beholder's wants."

So that explains everything. Bowser wanted the Star Rod so that his wishes might be granted—that he might have Princess Peach. And once he saw that he could have _any_ wish granted…

Then must've come the lust for power.

"Ah, my comrades have arrived," Eldstar spoke up, jarring the hero out of his thoughts. And indeed, six other stars, fading in and out like Eldstar, appeared above their respective star space on the stone.

The one to the right of Eldstar—with a bright pink bow on top—then exclaimed happily, "Finally! Our hero has come!"

"About time—" another one, purple in color and having spectacles over his eyes, muttered. "—I was about to think you'd never come."

"But he isn't alone," a motherly-voiced star, a pink one with a yellow ribbon draped across her 'arms', said. "He has friends. Come forth, warriors. Our plea turns to you as well."

And so it seemed, for the first time, the other two of the team were noticed, for all the other stars looked to them, some surprised at their presence, and others welcoming. Sonic and Goombario exchanged glances, before looking back at the stars.

"Are you talking to us…?" Goombario asked quietly.

"Of course! You must aid Mario on his quest! It is the only hope for Star Haven—and Mushroom Kingdom!" another star, book in 'hand' and red-tie on, spoke.

"Come and join your ally in the center of the stone," Eldstar told them.

And so, meekly and nervously, the two walked forward to their side beside Mario. All looked around, amazed and very fidgety about being the center of attention of these powerful beings.

At seeing them in the soft light of blue that still glowed from the lines, the one with the pink bow gasped. "Sonic! Oh, Sonic, I knew you'd have the heart to join Mario on his quest! You are the true hero you will be destined to be!"

Sonic's eyes were wide as he gaped at the hologram of the star. "How do you know my name…?" It clearly didn't register to him what else the star had said.

Mamar giggled. "Why, I'm the one who grants your wishes! And I have gotten quite a few from you and your friends!"

"You mean you grant Mario and Goombario's wishes, too?" Sonic asked, amazed. His eyes were wide, a glimmer of excitement in them.

Mamar paused for a minute, as if baffled by the suggestion. "No…don't you know who I'm talking about…? All your friends back home…?"

"Home…? What are you talking about—Mushroom Kingdom's my home!" Sonic informed.

There was a long silence. His statement seemed to shock not only Mamar—but all the stars around them.

"Oh dear…he seems to have lost his memory…" the one with the book—Klevar—said sadly.

Sonic laid his ears back against his head at that. He couldn't deny that was true…but surely he was born on Mushroom Kingdom…? There wasn't a way he couldn't have been…

"You poor thing…we must help you somehow!" Mamar declared.

"But what can we do…?" one star who had been quiet throughout this whole conversation—Kalmar--spoke up. He had a black mustache.

Eldstar thought for a minute, before answering, "Sonic…I do believe we can help you with your memory, but you must help Mario rescue us first. Every time you save a Star Spirit, you will be granted a little bit more of your memory. Does that sound good to you…?"

Sonic couldn't believe it. All he had to do was rescue the Star Spirits, and he'd get his memory back…? "Heck yeah! I'll do anything!" he exclaimed with a broad smile.

Mamar giggled.

"Then so it be," the pink star, Misstar, replied.

Sonic nodded, still smiling.

But little did he know it would be a lot harder than he thought.

A _lot_ harder…

-

Peach smiled faintly, gloved hand gently brushing Tails' head bangs as the child slept. He was so cute in his sleep…but to have such innocence crushed by the loss of someone at such an early age…

Peach sighed, withdrawing her hand. Yes, Mario's death still haunted her mind. Her only real friend…well, that was kind of a lie. Luigi and all of the Toads were also her friends…but Mario was different, somehow. It was like he understood her, even if he couldn't talk. It was like there was a bond between them—a silent bond that didn't need words of confidence or assurance. Just the presence of the other brought the happiness and peace to the other.

But now that he was gone…it was as if a piece of her died as well…

_I…I liked him…I really did…and now…I'll never be able to say that to him…_she thought sadly. _Oh, Mario…if only there was hope that you might've lived…_

The princess turned her head away, golden locks bright as the sun draping past her shoulders and outlining her beautiful face. Her pure, clear blue eyes shimmered with tears that threatened to fall if she dared think of another sad thought…

But she could not keep such a thing from occurring.

The tears fell and fell and fell. And as she sobbed quietly, bent over her lap and hands covering her face, she failed to notice the small knock on the window doors that led to the balcony…

That is, she hadn't noticed them until they got louder and louder.

With a sniffle, she looked up. There was someone behind the door—but who could it be? How could anyone get up to the balcony without Bowser being alerted…?

After the knocking grew more urgent, the princess finally decided to get up and answer it, still trying to wipe away her tears to make herself look more presentable.

The caller, she soon learned, wasn't a person. It was a star…a Star Kid…

"Finally! Man, it's so cold out there at such a height!" the bright young star informed, shivering. A few sparkles drifted downwards from the motion.

Peach sniffled again, mentally kicking herself for sounding weak, and shut the door behind her as she asked, "Who're you….?"

"I'm a Star Kid! The name's Twink, and I've come to grant you your wish, Your Highness!" 'Twink' grinned excitedly, bounding around the princess.

Peach was dumbfounded. Her open mouth proved to it. "But how can that be…? Bowser has the Star Rod! Without it, you guys can't fulfill wishes!"

At that, Twink's grin widened even more. "There's Power stronger than that of the Star Rod, Princess…"

Peach's eyebrow raised, confused. Power stronger than the Star Rod…? That wasn't possible. The little one's crazy…

After a moment of silence, and another sniff, Peach waved at the star kid, muttering, "You said you were going to grant my wish…?"

"Oh yeah!" Twink's black eyes glittered with excitement as he once again bounced around the princess. "I have come to tell you great news!"

"Well? Let's hear it!" Peach hurried on.

Twink couldn't contain his excitement, biting his lip as he exclaimed two words that changed Peach's world.

"_Mario's alive!!!_"

Peach froze. The thought hit her hard, like a ton of bricks, and yet like a giant wave of relief that crashed down on her. Mario…he was alive! Alive!

"A-are you sure…?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Twink bobbed up and down. "Yes! I'm positive!"

"You're not lying?"

Twink shook his little 'head'. "Nope! Star Kids _can't_ lie, Princess! He really is alive!"

Silently, the girl sat down on her bed, a wide smiling slowly growing on her face. Soon, she found her hand covering her mouth, tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks. He's alive! Oh, thank the Star Spirits—he's alive! 

"Peach…?" Twink asked timidly. Had he hurt the girl's feelings…? "I'm sorry…I thought you'd be happy…"

"Oh, Twink! I've never been more happy in my life! Oh, thank you—thank you!" Peach exclaimed. With a joyous heart, the princess bounced up—and out of a spontaneous urge—started dancing with happiness. "He's alive—oh, he's alive!"

Twink smiled, dancing, too, in the way stars do.

And so, their happiness ensued, until both found themselves completely exhausted and lying on the carpet floor of the room, panting, but smiling widely all the same.

"Oh, Twink…thank you so much…" Peach breathed.

"No…problem…" Twink panted. Knowing his work wasn't done, the star weakly flew up. "But there's more…Mario…he's coming…back…to save you…and Mushroom Kingdom…"

Peach sat straight up, eyes wide. "He's coming back? To save us? Oh…" The girl was so filled with happiness, she laughed herself silly. Her hero was back! Oh the joy! 

"And he's not alone this time—he's going to have a bunch of friends help him, too! Together, they're gonna save the world!" Twink exclaimed excitedly.

Peach's wide smile never disappeared. "My hero…" she whispered. "I always knew there would come a time when Bowser would try to take over Mushroom Kingdom…and now its come, and Mario—my Mario—is going to stop him! Oh!" The princess laughed with glee again. Twink couldn't help but have the slight thought she was going mad…but that was not so.

After the girl was done with her laughter, she stood up, brushing her soft pink dress off. "Well…if Mario and his friends are going to save the world, so must we do our part!" Peach said determinedly, a fierce glint in her clear blue eyes.

There was a pause before she thought to herself quietly, "…but what…?"

Twink opened his mouth to reply, but the Princess was already ahead of him. Her mind was working like a frenzy. "I've got it! I'll give him my Lucky Star! Hold on a moment!"

With that, Peach was off. Twink didn't even get to say a word before she was back with a small pendant in hand. Man; not only her brain was working fast, but her whole body!

"Twink, please! Give this Lucky Star to Mario! It really will help him—and it's all I can do for now. If you will, will you also tell him that I am also going to be helping him as much as I can from where I am now…? Please, Twink…?"

Twink rolled his eyes. "Of course I will, Princess Peach! There isn't a creature on Mushroom Kingdom who would disobey your orders! I'll take this to Mario right away!" The little star saluted bravely, before fluttering over and grabbing the Lucky Star. It was a little heavier than what he had anticipated, but he lifted it up easily enough and soon, he was off on his first of many missions for Her Highness.

Peach smiled, waving him off and wishing him the greatest of luck.

And all that had happened in no more than fifteen seconds…

-

"Oh, man…this is going to be so cool!" Sonic exclaimed excitedly. "I finally get to have my memory back! This is awesome!"

Mario grinned. The blue one had been ranting about it ever since they left Shooting Star Summit. All of them were tired, though, as it was now just the breaking of day and they had stayed up all night on that mountain, talking with the stars and learning of what they were up against. So he couldn't blame Goombario for being a tad bit annoyed about such redundant comments. Like the Goomba had said, he 'needed lots of rest'…

"Oh, would you shut up already!" Goombario finally exclaimed. "We know—OW!"

Sonic and Mario turned around to Goombario, stopping their progress.

"Goombario…what's wrong…?" Sonic asked.

"Something just bonked me on the head…ow…" the Goomba murmured, sitting down and foot rubbing a sore spot on his head.

Sonic and Mario frowned, jogging over to their friend's side. But no longer had they done so, than a little star swooped up to them, a broad smile on its face.

"Hey! You're Mario!" It exclaimed suddenly.

Mario looked up to the star, nodding.

"Oh, good! That wasn't long at all! Here, my name is Twink and I've got a special message and gift for you from the Princess Peach herself!" Twink informed.

Mario, Sonic and Goombario exchanged amazed expressions. Princess Peach…?

"Then what are you waiting for?! Let's hear it!" Goombario exclaimed, hopping up to his feet and completely forgetting about his previous minor injury. He waddled closer to the flying star to hear better.

Twink bobbed up and down as if in a gesture to say, 'okay', then began relating the message to them. "…and she told me to deliver this to you, Mario. It's a Lucky Star! It makes your attack power double the stronger!"

And sure enough, Twink was finally able to drop of the package to them, safe-and-sound.

Sonic and Goombario huddled closer to get a look at the new item.

"A Lucky Star…?" Sonic repeated.

"Yep!" Twink grinned. "Like I said, it doubles your attack power! Whenever you have it with you, Mario, you'll always be stronger!"

Mario turned the pendant over and over in his hand. Sure enough, it had to be Princess Peach's. No other female in all of the world kept such jewelry as shiny and polished as the Highness. He looked up, nodding a thank you to the Star Kid.

Twink bobbed up and down in response. "No problem! Now, I've got to go—Princess Peach needs me. But don't forget, all of our wishes are on your side, Mario! We're counting on you and your friends!"

Mario gave a small smile at that, nodding in response. He could see Sonic and Goombario smiling as well out of the corner of his eye.

"All right, then. I'll see you later!" And with that, Twink was off.

Once he was out of sight, Goombario turned to Mario, who was putting the Lucky Star in his overall pocket for save-keeping.

"Mario…" the plumber looked at him, "…what do we do, now? I mean…I know the closest star is Eldstar—he told us—but how do we get to Koopa Bros. Fortress? They never said that…"

Mario thought for a moment as the group continued walking. They were passing the former castle grounds now, heading into Toad Town.

Sonic, looking around and idle from the conversation, couldn't help but notice a large poster on the wall separating the castle grounds from Toad Town. Excited, he pointed to it, exclaiming, "I've found it!"

Both Mario and Goombario turned to face where their friend was pointing. Goombario, intrigued, waddled up to it for closer inspection.

"'Merlon's Fortune-Telling Service—come one, come all. Your future awaits…'" he read. With a smile, he turned to the other two.

Apparently, they were all thinking the same thing…

-

"…this is _so_ not what I was thinking," Goombario muttered quietly but harshly to Mario.

Even the plumber had to agree. Here they had come to the legendary Merlon for advice, and all they were getting for nine coins was a story…a lousy, long, never-ending story…

Sonic was already snoring soundly, leaning on the plumber, and completely dormant. Goombario couldn't help but envy him. He wish he were sleeping…able to ignore and tune out this so-called 'fortune-teller's' story…

"…and that is why it is absolutely _essential_ for you to remember what I have told you earlier," Merlon said. He finally opened his vivid, glowing green eyes, and saw the scene before him.

Mario hurriedly nudged Sonic to wake up him, and to his greatest relief, the hedgehog did indeed snort awake. "Wait…wha…?" 

"You were _sleeping_? During _my story_?" Merlon roared.

Mario and Goombario winced. Uh-oh…

"Why, I should—I—I should—"

"Well, geez!" Sonic yawned. "Don't blame me if your story was a bit boring, okay? I'm not good with standin' still for so long." Another yawn. "Sorry to burst your bubble..."

His two teammates exchanged glances. Well that was certainly polite…

Mario and Goombario turned to Merlon slowly to see what his reaction would be. To their greatest surprise, the enchanter merely laughed.

Another glance between Mario and Goombario. Sonic, eyes half-lidded, itched his ear. He was still tired, and that stupid magician's roaring laughter didn't help…

Merlon then sighed happily. "Ah…the great impatience of youth…aggravating, yet those who behold it are often the most honest…" He laughed a few more times after that, before clearing his throat. His mustache twitched a bit. Then, he spoke. "Anyway, I think I can find it in myself to forgive you. It is a bad habit of mine to rant like that. Excuse me for doing so."

Mario nodded, Goombario said, "Don't worry about it!", and Sonic merely yawned for an answer.

Satisfied (somehow), Merlon nodded, mustache twitching. "Now…to find what you seek…"

Silence.

Fidget.

Silence again.

"Erm…_where_ was it you wanted to go, again?"

'Koopa Bros. Fortress,' Mario signed.

"Ah! Right!" Merlon shook his head, mustache once again twitching. "Well, let's get on with it…"

His gloved hands then reached out from under his cloak, open to the crystal ball in front of him. His green eyes closed, focused. Quietly, he chanted mystical words—ones that even as Sonic, Mario and Goombario stood there, they felt as if a part of them was merging with an unknown dimension…as if their mind was expanding, grasping what could not be grasped and knowing what was unknown. They closed their eyes all at once, the powerful feeling overwhelming them.

It was like they weren't on their world anymore. They were some place else—some universe else entirely. Something was merging with them…becoming them…they were transforming…become stronger…smarter…invincible…and then…

It stopped.

All at once, the world came crashing back. They were mere mortals again, lying scrambled up in one big heap on the carpet of Merlon's tent. And everything they had seemed to start becoming was snatched away like a flame snuffed out.

Merlon cleared his throat abruptly. "The way to Koopa Bros. Fortress is from the East Gate of Toad Town. Leave from there and follow Pleasant Path. Go past Koopa Village, and not long after you will find Koopa Bros. Fortress."

Sonic groaned, standing up and feeling sore. Mario just sat on the floor, rubbing his head. It was Goombario who hopped up and said, "Are you kidding me? That's all we have to do?"

Merlon turned to the teen Goomba quickly, eyes glowing fiercely. "Do not believe this part of your journey is simple. There is great danger ahead of you."

"Okay, okay…so can we go, now?" Sonic asked. It was evident nothing the enchanter had said got to him.

'We'll be careful,' Mario signed. After all, there may be truth to the magician's words…

Merlon sighed. "Fine. Then go. I've got nothing more to say."

And so, they left. None of them really paid attention to the 'great danger' part of Merlon's words. But maybe if they had, things would've been a lot easier…

…and better, for that matter.

Why, even the four black Toads blocking the East Gate warned them of the danger beyond. Such cautions were starting to annoy a certain little blue hedgehog…

"Let us pass already!" Sonic exclaimed. "I don't care if its dang'rous (**A/N: **'dangerous')! Merlon let us go, so why don't you?"

"Merlon's gettin' flies in his brain, he's so old," the leader—a black Toad with red spots on his mushroom hat—said tauntingly. "Trust us, you _don't_ wanna go this way. _Tooooo_ dangerous."

"Why I—" but before Sonic could get one more word out, both Mario and Goombario clamped a hand on the little one's mouth, dragging him back. They had other plans…a silent, unspoken plan 'B'.

But Sonic wasn't happy at all, needless to say, when they returned to Merlon's front door step. The magician already had a bad record in his book for rambling and being a worry-wart. Besides, he still had a bone to pick with those four toads who were blocking the way to Pleasant Path…

But no matter, magician let them in, surprised at seeing them back so quickly. And after hearing their story, he fell silent.

"Something seems fishy…" Merlon said finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the ever-impatient hedgehog. "Four black Toads, you say…? Hmm…"

Goombario shifted. "Do you think you can help us…?" 

Merlon didn't say a word in response. Instead, silence once again took hold of the entire room. Then—suddenly and quite abruptly--the magician took off, walking briskly out of his tent without a word. Surprised, the heroes chased after him, soon catching up with their enchanter-friend in time to hear him talking to the Toads.

"…sorry, no-can-do, old man. It's _way_ to dangerous past here," the leader was saying.

"I shall make you let them pass," Merlon muttered, teeth gritted. Goombario, Mario and Sonic (yes, even our little friend who wasn't very fond of Merlon) exchanged surprised glances. That didn't sound like the elderly, wise, yet forgetful friend they had met only moments earlier! He sounded menacing and threatening, even! 

But the Toads interpreted what he said a different way. They laughed. "Oh! I'm so scared!" the green-spotted one exclaimed, being ever the drama-king.

The leader was holding his sides, he was laughing so hard. "So what'cha gonna do, old man…?" He barely got out, choking laughter after choking laughter. "Beat us up with your cane…?" 

That aroused more fits of laughter from the Toads.

To the angry heroes' surprise, Merlon was quiet, as if every taunting word they said bounced right off of him. But they knew better. He was containing his rage, harnessing it…to use for a spell? They didn't know, but all three of them unanimously decided it better to just let the old enchanter to his bidding before doing anything.

But they had barely taken a step back, when the loudest _boom_ of lightning they had ever heard—or seen, for that matter—crashed right in front of Merlon, and on the four Toads. Sonic, Mario and Goombario jumped up, at first thinking they had done something wrong. But after realizing the situation, they couldn't help but have that fearful thought: did Merlon kill the Toads…? 

To their greatest relief (even Sonic's), they saw that was not so. The lightning had only broken the veil they had draped upon themselves to make them appear as a different specimen.

In reality, they were four koopas—one dressed in red, one in green, one in black, and one in yellow.

"YEARGH! That hurt!" one of the koopas roared, trembling like a leaf. In fact, all of the koopas were.

The whole spectacle, even, drew a crowd of normal Toad Town citizens to see what in the world was going on. They were amazed.

"All right, old man—that was clever! But…but we'll be back! Just watch yourself!" the leader had to keep himself from saying 'that's not match for Bowser's magic'; he knew if he did, he'd have made Bowser's new plan known long before it was supposed to. That wouldn't look good on the boss's face…

"C'mon, guys. Let's go!" he ordered, putting the thought behind him. With numerous "Yeah's!" and "Watch yourselves!" the gang was off, heading back to where they came from.

As soon as they were out of earshot, the whole crowd burst into cheers for their locally-known fortune-teller. Mario grinned, joining in with his clapping, while Goombario and Sonic jumped and 'wooted' for joy. Everyone cheered their favorite magician.

And in response to all the praising, Merlon merely twitched his mustache a bit, mumbling

to himself.

But before any questions could be asked, the enchanter turned and made a bee-line towards his tent-like residence. The crowd quieted at the sudden exit, feeling as if they had done something wrong. Silence overtook them a few more moments. Glances were shared, quiet murmurs exchanged. Who was their praise turned to, now…? Where they all to just…go home?

Mario leaned over to his two friends, mouthing, 'I think now is the time we leave…'

Goombario and Sonic nodded, agreeing. And so, as unnoticeably as they could, the three made their way to the East Gate. As they did so, the crowd dissipated. Slowly, Toad Town returned to its bustling, happy ways.

Sonic, Goombario, and Mario exchanged smiling glances as they stood right in front of the East Gate. Well, one step forward, and they'd be officially starting their adventure. It was now or never…

Tug.

Sonic look back behind himself, confused as to what had pulled on his arm. To his greatest surprise, it was the little pink Toad girl from earlier. Now that he saw her up close, he could see she was up to his muzzle, and had little dark red braids that seemed to match her personality perfectly.

And to his even greater astonishment, she was looking at him straight in the eye.

With no fear.

And then, she began to speak.

"Mister…? I'm sorry for what my mom said earlier…I-I don't think you're a monster…" the little girl paused at this for a moment, as if thinking. Then, she continued. "You're my age, really! I'm ten—and you look like a ten-year, so I'm gonna say you are. But anyway…" Here was another pause, and the little girl averted her black eyes, before turning back a moment later. "My name's Toadette. And…and you're a hero, right?"

Sonic stared at her a moment, shocked by all she was saying. "Um…I guess…"

"Oh, good!" Toadette's cute features then displayed a wide, cheery smile. "Then that means I can be a hero, too! Someday…but Mom won't let me go on adventures right now, so I'll hafta wait. But maybe we can go on an adventure sometime! Maybe…" At this, the little one's eyes clouded over in a dream-like state. Then, she shook herself out of it, smiling brightly again. "Well, then I guess that's it! I'll see you later, Mr. Hero!"

With that, she let go of Sonic's furred arm, skipping happily off, and humming to herself a sweet tune.

Sonic had never been so shocked in his life.

And meanwhile, Mario and Goombario had heard and seen the whole, short but sweet monologue.

Finally, after Sonic had not moved nor spoken a word for what seemed like hours, Goombario laughed, walking over and nudging his friend towards the gate. "C'mon, 'Mr. Hero'…we've got a Star Spirit to save, remember?"

Slowly, Sonic grinned. "Yeah…!" But he still didn't move.

Goombario rolled his eyes, still trying to push Sonic towards the gate. After some fruitless efforts, the Goomba grunted, "How come you're younger than me, and yet I can't move you…?"

Sonic grinned, looking down at the slightly smaller creature. "'Cuz maybe I don't wanna move…" 

Goombario huffed. "Some 'hero' you are…and I thought you said you couldn't stay in one place for too long…?" 

Sonic's grinned widened. "It hasn't been 'too long' yet."

The Goomba only groaned.

Mario's shoulders shook with unsung laughter. His shaking hands signed as best they could, 'Come on, guys. We really need to get to Koopa Bros. Fortress. The longer we wait…' Here, he stopped. Even for him, it was hard to turn from such a happy moment to a moment of soberness, in which they had to face the reality that Bowser still had the upper hand.

But when he glanced at the other two, he saw they understood. Emerald eyes showed undefined determination and fire. Dark brown eyes showed ready knowledge and unconditional willingness. They were ready. And so, after confirming with themselves that fact, they stepped forward, and walked on, now on Pleasant Path, and on the way to Koopa Bros. Fortress.

Their adventure had officially begun.


End file.
